Sony's PDA has been available overseas for some time. Does it offer anything new to Australian shores?
Sony's Clie handheld devices have been around in other markets (particularly Japan and the US) and now they're coming downunder. The Clie isn't radically different from other colour handhelds available here, but its elegant design and reasonable price make it an attractive pick for anyone looking for a high-end Palm OS PDA. We just wish Sony would include software for Mac users.
The T615C/G comes with a colour transflective LCD, a screen technology that uses a traditional backlight for dim situations and also reflects ambient light from the front, making it easy to read in very bright sunlight. Most other colour PDAs use a reflective LCD with small sidelights squeezed in between the LCD and the digitiser (the part you actually tap with your stylus).
We found the Clie's high-resolution, 320 x 320-pixel screen to be sharp, bright, and colourful, and it worked well in every lighting situation. Also, it's easier to tap precisely on this screen because the gap between the digitiser and the LCD is smaller.The brushed-aluminum case of the T615C has a solid, durable feel to it. And yet it is still exceptionally slim for a colour handheld and rests easily in a shirt pocket. Sony's designers did a great job of sculpting the edges so that the T615C feels just right in your hand. However, the minuscule scroll button below the screen is so small that it's nearly useless. Fortunately, the jog dial on the left can perform most of the same functions.
To protect the screen, there's a removable, black-leather flip cover. Inside the aluminium case, there's a 33MHz processor and 16MB of RAM. That's likely to be more than you'll need for storing calendar, contact, and to-do-list information. But if you plan to load lots of third-party applications, you'll appreciate the extra RAM. There's also a Memory Stick slot on the top to add either more memory or the new Memory Stick digital camera. In our tests, the PDA's rechargeable lithium-polymer battery lived up to its rated 12 days of use between charges.
Sony piles on the software extras with the T615C/G. In addition to the usual Palm OS apps, you get Documents To Go Standard Edition for working with Word and Excel files. If you're looking for something a little more fun, there's also Sony's signature gMovie and PictureGear Pocket software to show off the high-resolution screen. With Clie Paint you can draw freehand or on top of photos that you have stored on the device. Sony also includes remote-control software so that you can use your PDA to command your Sony home-theatre gear. There's also plenty of third-party applications included on the CD-ROM.
At this stage, Sony is only releasing a limited number of Clies and you'll only be able to buy them from Sony stores (ahead of a full launch later this year).
| Product: | Sony Clie |
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| Price: | AU$949 |
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| Vendor: | Sony |
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| Phone: | 1300 137 669 |
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| Web: | www.sonystyle.com.au |
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Interoperability: |  ½16MB RAM, USB (Cradle), 4MB flash memory, 33MHz Dragonball VZ processor, Palm 0S 4.1 |
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| Futureproofing: |
Comes with plenty of software extras. |
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| ROI: |
Not radically different from other handhelds in its class, but reasonable price makes it a good pick. |
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| Service: |
1-year warranty, ph 1300 137 669 |
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| Rating: |
½ |
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4%
4%
